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Sunday, September 24, 2006
French newspaper suggests Osama bin Laden may be dead
The French daily newspaper L'Est Republicain reported today that Al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden may have died of Typhoid Fever in Pakistan on August 23, citing what it said was a leaked French secret service report dated September 21. The newspaper reported that unnamed Saudi secret services sources passed this information to the Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE, the French external secret service). "According to a source that is usually reliable, Saudi secret services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," said the French intelligence report. The report states that Saudi Arabia first heard the information on September 4 and are searching for more details, more specifically Osama's burial place, before making an official announcement. Bin Laden is alleged to have succumbed to a serious bout of typhoid fever, which caused a partial paralysis of his lower limbs. Due to his remote hideout, the report claims, medical assistance was out of the question. A spokesperson of the Pakistani home office said that he had no information about the possible death of Osama bin Laden. U.S. intelligence services and spokespeople at the White House also say they have no confirmation of the report. French President Jacques Chirac reacted: "I was rather surprised to see that a confidential note from the DGSE was published and I have asked the minister of defence to start an investigation immediately and to reach whatever conclusions are necessary." He too stressed the information was not confirmed. Meanwhile, a Saudi source told CNN and Time that bin Laden has a water-borne illness, but is still alive. Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington D.C. has issued a statment saying: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead. Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified... Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified." It's not the first time bin Laden's death has been announced. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen pointed out that rumours of bin Laden's death circulate every few months.
The two boys, ages 7 and 2, and their 1-year-old sister were found together Saturday in an East St. Louis apartment where their mother lived, State Police Capt. Craig Koehler said.
The children were last seen Monday with family friend Tiffany Hall, 24, now charged with first-degree murder in the death of their mother, who is believed to have been slain days before her children disappeared. Hall is also charged with intentional homicide of an unborn child, prosecutor Robert Haida said. (Watch crime scene where cops found children's bodies -- :50) Koehler declined to say whether Hall was suspected in the children's deaths. The cause of theirdeaths had not been determined, he said. The bodies of DeMond Tunstall, 7, Ivan Tunstall-Collins, 2, and Jinela Tunstall, 1, were found in an apartment at the John DeShields public housing complex, capping a furious two-day search that included scouring an 1,100-acre state park. Authorities said a lead directed them to check the apartment, which had not been searched previously. They declined to elaborate. "Anytime you have three deceased children, it's a very emotional time," Koehler said late Saturday as he fought back tears. "All these investigators have worked tirelessly with one outcome in mind — to find these children alive." The body of their mother, Jimella Tunstall, 23, was found Thursday in a weedy East St. Louis lot. Authorities believe her womb was cut open after she was knocked unconscious. FULL STORY
A man in a black trench coat and a mohawk haircut opened fire Wednesday at a downtown Montreal college, slaying a young woman and wounding at least 19 other people before police shot and killed him, witnesses and authorities said. Police dismissed suggestions that terrorism played a role in the lunch-hour attack at Dawson College, where scores of panicked students fled into the streets after the shooting began. Some had clothes stained with blood; others cried and clung to each other. Two nearby shopping centers and a daycare center also were evacuated. "I was terrified. The guy was shooting at people randomly. He didn't care, he was just shooting at everybody," said student Devansh Smri Vastava. "There were cops firing. It was so crazy." Witnesses said the attacker started firing outside the college before walking in the front door. Much of the shooting was in the second-floor cafeteria, where students dropped to the floor and lay in terror. At times the gunman hid behind vending machines before emerging to take aim — at one point at a teenager who tried to photograph him with his cell phone. Teachers ran through the halls, telling everyone to get out of the building. Police rushed to the scene, hiding behind a wall as they exchanged fire with the gunman, whose back was against a vending machine, said student Andrea Barone, who was in the cafeteria. He said the officers proceeded cautiously because many students were trapped around the assailant, who yelled "Get back! Get back!" every time an officer tried to move closer. Eventually, Barone said, the gunman went down in hail of gunfire. Authorities did not provide any information about the attacker. Police spokesman Ean Lafreniere said there was just one gunman at the school and the search for any others was over. Although police initially suggested the gunman had killed himself, Police Director Yvan DeLorme later said at a news conference that "based on current information, the suspect was killed by police." FULL STORY
A python sits on a road after swallowing a pregnant sheep in the village of Kampung Jabor, about 200 km (124 miles) east of Kuala Lumpur, on September 5, 2006. The six-metre reptile weighing 90 kg (198.5 lbs) was too laden to move, making it easy for firemen to capture it, said a local daily newspaper. Picture taken September 5, 2006. MALAYSIA OUT NO ARCHIVE NO SALES REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA).
Publicist Nancy Seltzer confirmed that Houston, one of the most celebrated pop artists of the 1980s and '90s who has since largely retreated from the public eye, had filed the court papers. Seltzer declined further comment, and it was not immediately clear if Houston, 43, was seeking custody of the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. The couple married in 1992. Representatives for Brown, who emerged from the teen pop group New Edition as an R&B crooner and ultimately star of his own reality TV show, "Being Bobby Brown," declined comment. FULL STORY
Newmarket Films, the indie distribution company that brought us Mel Gibson's polarizing The Passion of the Christ, has paid a reported $1 million to secure U.S. distribution rights to Death of a President, a movie that has sparked an uproar for dramatizing the assassination of President George W. Bush. The deal was announced on Monday, the five-year anniversary of 9/11. But a source claimed the date was purely coincidental and that negotiations simply had begun after the film had its world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival Sunday night. The brainchild of British producer-director Gabriel Range, Death of a President will air initially on Britain's Channel 4 on Oct. 9 and will be rolled out to theaters across the U.S. in the following months. Newmarket would not confirm whether it would time the film's release to Election Day. Shot like a typical television documentary, the 93-minute film uses computer wizardry to combine archival footage of President Bush with staged scenes to depict the murder and its aftermath. The trades estimate the film's budget between $2 million and $4 million. The film opens in October 2007, with the President visiting Chicago amid demonstrations over his newly expanded powers via the so-called Patriot Act 3. After giving a speech, he exits a hotel to his motorcade when he is gunned down by an assassin hiding in a nearby building. FULL STORY
Joe Francis and his Mantra Films pleaded guilty to federal charges carrying $2.1 million in fines. Authorities said Joseph Francis, founder of Mantra Films and a related company, MRA Holdings, also agreed to plead guilty to charges to be filed later in Los Angeles, and to pay fines and restitution totaling $2.1 million. (Read the agreement -- pdf) The "Girls Gone Wild" videotapes -- often featuring young women heavily partying and baring their breasts -- are widely advertised on some cable television channels. Mantra Films specifically pleaded guilty in Florida to charges that it failed to create and maintain age and identity documents for performers. The company also admitted it failed to label its videotapes and DVDs as required by federal law. Court documents say the alleged violations occurred during productions titled "Ultimate Spring Break," "Girls Gone Wild on Campus Uncensored," "Totally Exposed Uncensored and Beyond," and "Girls Gone Wild College Girls Exposed/Sexy Sorority Sweethearts." The Justice Department said the case is the first filed under a law designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. The law, which prosecutors call Section 2257 -- is intended to protect minors by requiring producers to create and maintain age and identity records for every performer in sexually explicit movies and other media. Distributors also must label their tapes and discs with the name of the custodian of the records and their location, prosecutors said. "Today's agreements ensure that Girls Gone Wild will comply with an important law designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors and puts other producers on notice that they must be in compliance as well," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. Officials said Francis will pay $500,000 and his firms, Mantra and MRA Holdings, will together pay $1.6 million. An attorney for Mantra, Aaron Dyer, told The Associated Press that the company would clean up its record keeping. The charges involved "serious record-keeping issues that occurred several years ago," he told the wire service. "Mantra takes these issues very seriously and has done everything it can to make sure this never occurs again." The case does not shut down "Girls Gone Wild." Under terms of the deal, the Los Angeles charges against MRA will be dismissed after three years if the company fully complies with the record-keeping laws and fully pays the fines.
Although it was never officially confirmed, Spears was expected to give birth later this week; reports circulated that she would have labor induced on Thursday in order to prepare for a cesarean birth. The birth of Spears' first son last year was also a cesarean (see "Britney Spears Gives Birth To A Baby Boy").Rumors that Spears went into labor last week were promptly debunked after photographs of the singer driving to Taco Bell on Thursday surfaced. The singer was also photographed taking her son Sean Preston for a drive with her around Malibu, California, in her white Mercedes on Monday. Spears discovered she was pregnant for the second time in early February, but waited until early May to confirm the news during an appearance on CBS' "The Late Show With David Letterman" (see "Britney Pregnant Again"). The birth marks Spears' second and her husband Kevin Federline's fourth child; Federline already has two children with former girlfriend Shar Jackson: 4-year-old Kori and 2-year-old Kaleb.
Death Shortly after 01:00 UTC (11:00 AEST) on 4 September2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb whilst snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[32] when, according to his friend and colleague, John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart", said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One. The events were caught on camera, and a copy of the footage was handed to the Queensland Police[33]. After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead". In such a case, the stingray responds to danger by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail (which can measure up to 25 cm or about 10 inches in length) in an upward motion.
The tape, called "Invitation to Islam," runs 48 minutes, expert Laura Mansfield said. Al-Zawahiri speaks for about 4 minutes on the tape, and the American narrates the rest. Californian Adam Gadahn, wearing a white robe and turban, introduces the message by calling on Westerners to convert. (Watch how this may be an effort to reach out to the West -- 2:40) Gadahn says that even Americans working with President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are invited to embrace Islam, but they should hurry. "We invite all Americans and believers to Islam, whatever their role and status in Bush and Blair's world order," Gadahn says. "Decide today, because today could be your last day." Mansfield, who is a writer and corporate adviser on the Middle East, Islam and terrorism, said the time reference could indicate an attack is near. Muslims believe that non-believers should be given a chance to convert before they are attacked, Mansfield said. "This may well be a warning," she said. The only indication of when the tape was made is a reference to the recent fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which ended August 14. Gadahn, also known as "Azzam the American," previously has been featured in al Qaeda tapes and is listed as armed and dangerous by the FBI on its Web site. (Watch why it 'makes sense' to use Gadahn as a spokesman -- 3:29) He is wanted by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States. Gadahn appeared on a tape last year on the fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He also was on a tape earlier this year, on the first anniversary of the London subway bombings.
The French daily newspaper L'Est Republicain reported today that Al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden may have died of Typhoid Fever in Pakistan on August 23, citing what it said was a leaked French secret service report dated September 21. The newspaper reported that unnamed Saudi secret services sources passed this information to the Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE, the French external secret service).
